Railway-switch lever lock stand



July 22, 1930. E. G. LITTLE 1,771,183

RAILWAY SWITCH LEVER LOCK STAND Filed June 3, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR'.

EfQjJtt/e July 22, 1930. LITTLE 1,771,183

RAILWAY SWITCH LEVER LOCK STAND Filed June 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

E .CLIL/tfi/e,

Patented July 22, .1930

au NillTjEDai- ()EFIiCEi Enw'IN" G; 141m ,.orrrtxmssme, rE N'sYLvn IA, AssIoNon'ro. THEiUNIoNL SWITCH a SIGNAL: coMPeNxor" swIssvALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ,Aoo'RronA'TIoNLon PENNSYLVANIA RAILWAY SWITCH $EVER iL'ocx STAND-7' My invention. relatesuto railway switch leverwlock stands, andiparticula-rly to lock,

standswherein the usual throwing lever for manually operating; axrailway switchor :the

iselectorlever: of a dual. control mechanism is heldagainstmovement by a-pivoted locking? member; when and: only when a locking,

deviceisuchras: a padlockis applied to-thev lockingmember. V

One object of my invention is the'construction/of the locking \memberz in: such manner that; the: locking; member is automatically withdrawn. a

I will. describe one form. oif llockl standembodying my invention; and will then-point 20.;out1the novel-features thereofin claims;

lil theeaccompanyingdrawing, ,Fig; 1v is. a-

vertical-1 sectional. viewv showing one form of lock. stand embodying; my invention, a lever- 6 being shown; in place in; the; lock; stand 25, Figg2iisa top-plan view ofthe basel of the lock stand-shown in Fig.1. Fig.3 isa side;

view of lthe, jaw. 2., and: locking member 7 shown in Fig.1: as i theyi appear, when viewed w from. the right in .Fig, 1.

lari part-sin all three views.

Referring;v to the: drawings, the ,lock stand in theiform here: shown, comprisesazjaw 2- pivotally attached to a .base 1; Therbase 1.

comprises a semi circular lower port-ion 1;

and an integral pedestal. 1 Theloweriportionl iseprovided with holes, 1,wher-ebythe;

base-may besecured torarrailway tie or other suitable. foundation not herein shown,

the. pedestal 1 and-i extends xupwardly?into anopening 2? 'in' the-lower, partv OftllGj aw-2.

Thevpin 3 is secured'to thejawQ by means of airiveteg andis held in -the base 1 by a head 3 Asetzscrew 9, extending through the side ofthe'pedestalll intothe hole 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 2,.is'adaptedto be screwediinto' engagement with the. pin 3 to/prevent move- Similar reference: characters refer tosimi The jawQmaybe :pivotally; attachedto the base 1 in any suitable manners, As-here, shown,,.a. pin-.3 isij ournalledin-a holeell in ment between thei base andithej awrwhen the j aw has been turned to the desired positionw with respect to the base; 7

The upperkpart 'ofrthe j aw 2.! is provided with-a recess 2 adapted toreeeivethe throw=- ing lever 6 orrthe; selector: lever ofianrailway" switch not shown. The jawv 2 also: hasformed therein a: vertical slot; 2'? 3 (Fig: .7 which extends through-the'j aw atrighhangle to the' plane in: which the level" 6' rotates; Mounted to oscillate withinithe slob 29mm a pin'v 8, carried: bythe jaw 2, and; biased by; its ownweight to the normalxpositionishowny, is-gavlock-ing member 7 comprisiirgetwo 1 arms; 7 and i one ofwhi'ch. extends upwardlyi on: each-side ofKthe rece'ss.2 ee Eigsu 1: and The arm- 7 isa-providednate its: upper mend, with a latch 7 the upper: andl lower faces of which are shaped aasishown, and: which latch normallyproj ectsinto the recess2 inithe path ofmovement-ofithezleverr: 6 into or outof said recess. Theararm 7 "isw provided at its upper-end,.with anr'e-ye 7, which is normally; located just outsiderofithe:

slot 2?, and through which a spadloclror other e suitable lOOklIlggdGVlCe; may be passed whem I it isdesired toprevent theremovabof lever 6-from=the recess 2". A. stop 7,,formed-%oni the lower part of thearm 7 engages the j aw 2' at: the bottom of the"sl'ot-2? tdlimiti thereon,

her; 7 overlyingthe. throwingaleven 6,, and

with the eye 7 exposed, if, aloeking-device such asa Apadlockvis placed-in the eye 7?,

rotation of" the locking member. 7 is iprevent ed", and thez leven 6 is therefore heldtin, the recess2 of-the jaw '2 bythe latch7 H the eye 7 is unoccupied by a. locking; device, under-the above.-conditions,1however; the locle ing member 7 is free to rotate,-and .due-to-ithe shape-ofthelowen face ofithe'latch 79 andlto the location of the point at which theilooking;

, gravity.

member is pivoted, if the lever 6 is then moved upwardly in the recess 2, the lever, upon striking the latch 7 will automatically move the locking member to a position in which the latch is out of the path of movement of the lever and the eye 7 is within the slot 2 \Vhen the lever has passed the latch, the locking member will normally drop back to the position shown'under the influence of If the lever is then again inserted in the recess 2", the lever upon entering the recess will strike the latch 7 upon its upper curved face and will rotate the locking member to a position in which the latch T is out of the path of movement of the lever and the eye 7 is within the slot 2 until after the lever has passed the latch, whereupon, the locking member will normally return to its normal position under the influence of gravity. If the locking member should stick in the position in which the latch 7 is out of the path of movement of the lever 6 and the eye 7 is within the slot 2 due for example to friction between the locking member and the pin 8, the surface 7 of the locking member 7 between the arms 7* and 7 would be raised above the bottom of the recess 2 and if the lever is then inserted in the recess, the lever will engage the surface 7 before the lever reaches the bottom of the recess and the lever will force the locking member back to its normal position in which the latch 7 overlies the lever and the eye 7 is exposed to receive a locking device.

It should be pointed out that due to the proportioning of the parts, when the lever is locked in the stand by a padlock or other locking device being inserted in the eye 7, only a small fraction of any force applied to the lever to remove the lever from the recess is transmitted as a shearing force on the padlock.

One advantage of a lock stand embodying my invention is that the throwing lever is securely held in place in the stand upon the application of a locking device to the locking member, but that the throwing lever is automatically released upon the removal of the locking device from the locking member.

Another advantage of a lock stand embodying my invention is that since the jaw is pivoted on the base 1, and since the vertical axis of the jaw is near the edge of the base, the stand may be attached to a tie with the axis of the jaw close to the edge of the tie or at an intermediate point on the tie as conditions may require.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of lock stand embodying my invention, it is understood that vari ous changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a movable lever for controlling a railway switch, of a jaw having a recess adapted to receive said lever, a locking member comprising two upwardly extending arms one of which is provided with an eye and the other of which is provided with a latch, means for pivotally attaching said locking member to said jaw in such manner that said'member is biased to a position in which said latch extends'into the path of movement of said lever into or out of said recess and said eye is exposed, the parts being so proportioned that when said lever is entering said recess said lever engages said latch in a manner to automatically move said locking member to a position in which said latch is out of the path of movement of said lever and access to said eye is prevented but that when said lever has completely entered said slot said lever engages in said slot and pivoted to said jaw and comprising two upwardly extending arms, one of which is provided with a hole normally located outside of said slot and the other of which is provided with a latch normally extending into said recess in the path of movement of said lever, the pivot of said member and said latch being so arranged with respect to said lever that saidlever in its downward movement will act upon said latch and rotate said locking member to a position in which said latch is out of the path of movement of said lever and said eye is in said slot, and said locking member also having a part between said arms arranged to move into the path of movement of said arm when said latch is moved out of said path for returning said lever to the position in which said eye is out of said slot and said latch is in the path of movement of said lever after said lever has completely entered said recess.

3. The combination with a movable lever for controlling a railway switch, of a base having a semi-circular lower portion provided with holes for attaching the base to a suitable foundation and having an integral pedestal provided with a hole, a jaw having a recess in its upper surface for receiving said lever and an opening in its lower surface and also having a vertical slot extending therethrough at right angles to the plane in which said lever moves, a pin extending through the hole in said pedestal into said opening in said jaw and riveted to said jaw and held in said pedestal by a head, a set screw in said pedestal for engaging said pin to prevent movement of said aw with respect to said base, a locking member located in said slot and pivoted to said jaw and comprising two upwardly extending arms, one of which is provided with a hole normally located outside of said slot and the other of which is provided with a latch normally extending into said recess in the path of movement of said lever, said latch and the pivot of said member being so arranged with respect to said lever that said lever in its downward movement will act upon said latch and rotate said locking member to a position in which said latch is out of the path of movement of said lever and said eye is in said slot, and said locking member also having a part between said arms arranged to move into the path of movement of said arm' when said latch is moved out of said path for returning said lever to the position in which said eye is out of said slot and said latch is in the path of movement of said lever after said lever has completely entered said recess.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' EDWIN G. LITTLE; 

